The Lakers' Jordan Hill (front) goes up for a shot on Wednesday at Pepsi Center in Denver. DOUG PENSINGER, GETTY IMAGES

DENVER – The reality is painful and plain. Kobe Bryant is out indefinitely, Steve Nash’s timeline only came with a minimum. And as the Lakers jerk forward and back like a jalopy being parallel parked by a teenager, the question slowly becomes one of inevitability.

Were the Lakers, broken up in the offseason and broken down by opening night, destined not to break through? Even if Wednesday's 111-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets were winnable, was this general stumble unavoidable?

“More than likely,” Pau Gasol conceded, even after he produced his best statistical line of the season. “We’re not trying to look at the big picture too much. We’re just trying to take it one day at a time, one game at a time.”

The young and athletic Lakers (4-6) were steamrolled by a team that proved even more athletic and dynamic, a team that had found only two opponents it could beat before it happened upon the Lakers.

This was not one of the blowouts of the young season. They were not buried early like against Golden State, Dallas or Minnesota. Instead, this was a slow burn, as the Lakers wasted a 10-2 lead, and couldn’t take advantage of hanging around for a four-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Gasol led the Lakers with the 25 points and 12 rebounds, but was only 12 of 27 from the field. In his second consecutive start, Jordan Hill finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

While the frontline’s stat line sounds impressive, the interior defense was a disaster, which is cause for concern with Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies coming to Staples Center on Friday.

Hill said the Lakers “slacked” on helping each other defensively as point guard Ty Lawson sliced through the pain to the tune of 19 points and 7 assists.

“Defensively we didn’t help each other out like we’re supposed to do,” Hill said, “and it cost us.”

Shaw shows

Brian Shaw retired from the NBA as a player in 2003. He was 37 years old. His superstar teammate, Kobe Bryant, was just 24, despite having already completed seven NBA seasons.

Ten years later, it provides a bit of perspective on the 35-year-old Bryant.

“He’s still not at the age I was when I finished my career playing,” Shaw, the first-year Nuggets coach, said Wednesday. “He always felt invincible and I would always say, ‘Father Time will catch up with you at some point and ice will be your best friend at some point.’”

Shaw, who was a Lakers assistant coach from 2005 to 2011, said Bryant is “seeing that now” as he attempts to come back from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

The two speak about once a month, Shaw said, and following the Nuggets win he spent about 20 minutes in the Lakers locker room catching up with Bryant and Gasol. However, the coach who was once considered Phil Jackson’s heir apparent in Los Angeles, speaks of Bryant with far more frequency, using him as a coaching tool.

On Wednesday morning, he said, it was second-year forward Quincy Miller who asked for insight into Bryant. The last two seasons, it was All-Star Paul George in Indiana, where Shaw was an assistant coach.

“I knew he had watched Kobe a lot and kind of idolized him as a player,” Shaw said. “If … he was trying to cut corners, just doing enough to get through a practice I would always remind him that I’d seen the best guy at that position work every day, and that it was no accident that he was as good as he is.”

If Bryant wasn’t cutting corners, Shaw would say, why should George.

“It doesn’t always resonate with everybody,” Shaw admitted. “There’s a uniqueness about (Bryant), in terms of his will to compete and to want to be the best. His thirst for being the best that no one else has.”

Still, Shaw said, “Anytime I can use a story or an analogy to try to motivate guys … I use it every time I can.”

Hill tops

Coach Mike D’Antoni trotted out six starting lineups in the first 10 games. He seems to have found one piece, at least, that he likes. In two starts at power forward, Hill has averaged 19.5 points and 13 rebounds, while sporting season averages of 7.9 points and 7.1 boards.

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